BENTON, Ark. — Although June 9 marks a devastating day for Morgan Nick's family, it is also the day Booneville resident Jamie Valdez went missing in 2021.
Since his disappearance, Valdez's sister Shawn Claiborne has been working hard to find her brother.
"We're desperate to have him home, taking care of, whatever it is we need to do," she said. "We just want our brother back."
However, Claiborne knows her brother isn't the only missing person. As of June 10, there are 507 missing person cases in Arkansas alone, according to Attorney General Tim Griffin's Office.
In honor of her brother, Claiborne has been running a Facebook account trying to help people locate their missing loved ones. The group has more than 1,800 members.
"It's not just our family that's suffering," she said. "There's 500 plus families out there who have missing people who are also suffering and my prayers go out to those people. I know what they're going through, and it's horrible. And I know that deep in their hearts, all they really want is to have their loved one back no matter what the circumstance."
To try to help these families, Griffin is hosting a missing persons event on June 18 in Benton. Any family member of a missing loved one is welcome to go and share information about who they are. Although Shawn lives in Texas now, she is eager to attend.
"I'm looking forward to it and getting to talk to the state police, the FBI, the crime lab, and different search teams and just wanting to get my brother's name out there more," Claiborne said.
Griffin said his office is always keeping up with missing person cases in the following statement:
"My office has taken a proactive role in raising awareness of Arkansas's missing persons. From Missing Person Monday posts on social media to this annual public event, we try to shine a light on every person missing throughout the state."
Claiborne is confident she and her family will find her brother.
"We know what we're going to get there eventually because we are being so stubborn and we're just going to get him found and that's all there is to it," she said. "We're not giving up."
If you want to attend the missing persons event in Benton, you can go to this link to register. It's free to attend.
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